HELPING THE MUSEUM SPREAD ITS MESSAGE

Teachers or others interested in making their own branch of the Museums of Endangered Ocean Life, get in touch. We can help you find ways of helping kids create their own works of art and science that get posted in the museum, worldwide!

More importantly, we can help kids find ways to truly make a difference, no matter where they live. There is always something to do to make the world a better place, a healthier place, and more fun too. Fred can help put smiles on faces - faces of happier kids with new purpose in a new year!

Become a FRIEND OF FRED and help spread the word about those who help endangered species. Invite Fred to your school. He will bring lots of good information and connect you with others.

More information at whalemail@waypoint.com

Facing Future Explained

EXTINCT means gone, pau, from all places. Example, the O'o is extinct from its former forests in Hawaii. They no longer exist.

EXTIRPATEDmeans gone from a given area. Example, Grizzly Bears were extirpated from California about 1925. They still exist.

ENDANGERED means that a species is nearing extinction unless actions are taken immediately to save them. It is usually a legal term associated with the Endangered Species Act, but because this is a political tool, it does not always reflect accurate science. Example: the Hawaiian Monk Seal is endangered and will likely become extinct.

THREATENED means that a species is likely to near extinction and become endangered unless actions are taken to protect it and its habitat. Example: Bald Eagles were threatened but have been removed from this list due to habitat protection and reductions in use of chemicals such as DDT.

SPECIES OF CONCERN: Many states have lists that include species not covered under federal protection as endangered or threatened. These may be species extirpated from the state, but present in greater numbers in neighboring areas.

Unfortunately, no reasonable approach has been worked out to list endangered habitats, the primary living space for all life forms. To many scientists, the entire Arctic is now endangered. Imagine, as Richard Ellis says, "If Australia were suddenly to disappear, don't you think we would wake up and do something?" Well, we are losing an area about the size and importance of Australia as the Arctic disappears, transforming due to climate change and taking with it the Polar Bears, Bowhead Whales, and Peoples dependent on that vast ecosystem.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

LET THIS BE A BETTER NEW YEAR



When I was a boy I spent a lot of time in the woods,
along a small stream near our home,
and at the beach.
I always wondered then,
why do I not see the birds, the mice, the deer, the whales.
The ones who have died.

When I was on Pihemanu, I saw.
My little friend......the albatross I visited each day
of my study.........She had tried to swim out into the ocean.
I saw her brave the surf and be knocked back, only to try again.
On the day before we left the atoll, I walked
to Monk Seal Point,
hoping to see this one bird I had befriended,
gotten to know, swim out to the reef edge and fly.
To Soar.

It was not to happen.
She had died during the night like so many
albatross fed our leavings. Crayola markers, legos, lighters,
bottle caps, a knife handle, twisted nylon rope, some fishing line,
a couple of chunks of squid.......the only real food, not enough
for her to survive.

My little buddy, Fred
will make the journey to Pihemanu this next summer.
I can only hope he and others with him
will have a more promising report for you.

In Memory of X310.
Please Go PLASTIC FREE FRIDAYS.




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